Imagination: Introduction & Definition w/ Dr. Anna Abraham

As we embark on our exploration of the imagination, we start by exploring just how we should conceptualize and talk about this phenomenon. We also begin to think through just how useful the imagination is. Our guest scholar this episode is Dr. Anna Abraham, E. Paul Torrance Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Georgia and the Director of the Torrance Center for Creativity and Talent Development, who guides us through these first steps on our journey.

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Dr. Anna Abraham studies the psychological and neurophysiological basis of creativity and other aspects of the human imagination. Her educational and professional training has been within the disciplines of psychology and neuroscience, and she has worked across a diverse range of academic institutions and departments the world over, all of which have informed her multidisciplinary focus. She is the Founding Editor of the Cambridge Elements in Creativity and Imagination, an innovative academic short book series from Cambridge University Press.

Within the Department of Educational Psychology, Professor Abraham serves as a primary faculty member in the Gifted & Creative Education program and as an affiliated faculty member in the Applied Cognition & Development program and the School Psychology program. She advises graduate students across all these three programs. She also collaborates on research projects with faculty and students in the Quantitative Methodology program.

Professor Abraham also directs the CREATIVITY & IMAGINATION LAB at UGA. Prospective students and collaborators can find information on current studies and opportunities within the detailed lab webpage.

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While her full catalog of articles and books is far too long to list here, the publications below provide a useful introduction to her scholarship addressing the topic of imagination:

Abraham, A., & Bubic, A. (2015). Semantic memory as the root of imagination. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 325–325.

Abraham, A. (2020). The Cambridge Handbook of the Imagination. Cambridge University Press.

Abraham, A. (2024). The Creative Brain: Myths and Truths. MIT Press.

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The Social Science for Public Good Podcast is a project of the Virginia Tech Institute for Policy and Governance and VT Publishing intended to make social science theories accessible and available to individuals and organizations seeking to promote social change.

Music: Purple-planet.com